America’s Home Pest Statistics Downright Scary

Hell hath no fury like the damage pests inflict on American homes and their families.

Most home owners have stories of the headaches and nuisances pests have inflicted on their American Dream. A recent consumer survey found 93 percent of Americans have concerns over finding insects in their homes. Their worry is well founded.

Each year, according to the National Pest Management Association, pests further ramp up the severity of the damage, harm and health threats they inflict on home owners and their families. From chewing up property to stealing food to transmitting potentially deadly diseases, pests unleash a fury of pain so costly it’s hard to digest.

$5 billion: The damage termites cause annually to homes and their contents. Even Donald Trump can’t afford this price tag.

500,000: Insect stings and bites send a half million Americans to the emergency room each year, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Between 40-150 Americans will die from insect stings. More than two million Americans are allergic to stinging insects.

20 percent: The amount of the world’s food supply consumed or contaminated by rodents (who carry mites, ticks and fleas) each year. We haven’t even counted up the number of fires rodents start by chewing up wires and spilling flammables. Plus, more than 40,000 people fall victims to rat bites each year, leading them to develop diseases like leptospirosis, trichinosis, the plague, salmonella and rat bite fever.

$7.213 billion: They just don’t spoil a good night’s rest. That’s the bill bed bugs leave Americans each year, according to Speciality Product Consultants, LLC.